Karaops pilkingtoni Crews & Harvey, 2011

Crews, Sarah C., 2023, But wait, there's more! Descriptions of new species and undescribed sexes of flattie spiders (Araneae, Selenopidae, Karaops) from Australia, ZooKeys 1150, pp. 1-189 : 1

Karaops pilkingtoni Crews & Harvey, 2011

Fig. 1C, D , Maps 1 , 2

Karaops pilkingtoni Crews & Harvey, 2011: 64, figs 55-58 (♂, ♀, examined).

Diagnosis.

Karaops pilkingtoni (Fig. 1C, D ) can be differentiated from almost all other members of the Central Desert species group by the embolus which is very short and in the middle of the bulb, rather than hooked and closer to the perimeter ( Crews and Harvey 2011: fig. 55). The differences between this species and K. kwartatuma sp. nov. are given below in the diagnosis of the new species. The female has very large, round accessory bulbs that nearly come into contact at the midline and are much bigger than the spermathecae, not found in other group members ( Crews and Harvey 2011: fig. 8).

Description.

The description of the male and female can be found in Crews and Harvey (2011).

Distribution.

The male and female are known only from the vicinity of Alice Springs, Northern Territory (Map 2 ).

Natural history.

The female (Fig. 1D ) and the coordinates of the male (Fig. 1C ) occur in the Hartz Range subregion of the MacDonnell Ranges. Trig Hill occurs in the MacDonnell subregion of the MacDonnell Ranges, though on the border of the Hartz Range subregion. The collections were made in May and June, a cooler, drier time of the year, transitioning from hotter and wetter (Suppl. material 2: table S1). The female was collected beneath rocks.

Discussion.

The holotype male of Karaops pilkingtoni (Fig. 1C ) is from the Telegraph Station at Alice Springs. Despite looking around Trig Hill in Alice Springs, no selenopids were found. There is some confusion, though, because the latitude and longitude given on the label do not correspond to the locality given on the label, Trig Hill. The female (Fig. 1D ) was matched with the male (Fig. 1C ) based on the locality of the collections. With new data regarding the number of species that can occur in an area, it may be that this female is another species. For example, K. mparntwe sp. nov. is known from "Alice Springs", and that is all of the information provided for this specimen. Only additional collecting and molecular data will help determine species boundaries, and no taxonomic changes are made at this time.

Figures

Figure 1. Species of the Central Desert species group A Karaops ngarutjaranya, female paratype, southeast of Womikata Bore Homeland, South Australia (SAM NN 10915) B Karaops ngarutjaranya, male holotype, northeast of Mount Woodroffe, South Australia (SAM NN 10914) C Karaops pilkingtoni, male holotype, Trig Hill (but see text), Old Telegraph Station, Alice Springs, Northern Territory (WAM T 76590) D Karaops pilkingtoni, female paratype, Alice Springs, Northern Territory (SAM N 199359) E Karaops vadlaadambara, female paratype, Arcoona Creek, near Sambot Waterhole, Gammon Ranges National Park, South Australia (SAM N 199354) F Karaops vadlaadambara, male holotype, Arcoona Creek, near Sambot Waterhole, Gammon Ranges National Park, South Australia (SAM N 199353) G Karaops manaayn, female holotype, Kempsey Road, West Armidale, above Macleay River, New South Wales (AM KS 043756) H Karaops manaayn, male paratype, Kempsey Road, West Armidale, above Macleay River, New South Wales (AM KS 113351) I Karaops mparntwe sp. nov., holotype female, Alice Springs, Northern Territory (AMT AA 10.852). Scale bars: 1 mm.

Map 1. Map of Australia showing areas that are expanded in subsequent figures. CD = Central Desert group, D = Karaops dawara group, F = Karaops francesae group, K = Kimberley group, UA = species that are not assigned to a group, PG = Pilbara-Gascoyne group.

Map 2. Species of the Central Desert species group; orange = juvenile from Morgan Range, light purple = Karaops deserticola, teal = Karaops ngarutjaranya, red = juveniles from Watarrka, blue = Karaops larapinta sp. nov., pink = Karaops kwartatuma sp. nov., yellow = Karaops pilkingtoni, x = Karaops mparntwe sp. nov., purple = Karaops vadlaadambara, green = Karaops manaayn. Juveniles are treated as distinct species based on molecular data.